1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle parking brake cable actuating structure which includes a pivotal manually operable brake lever connected to a brake cable.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern vehicles commonly employ a foot operated parking brake lever assembly which is connected to a brake cable for actuating parking brake structure. One prevalent way of maintaining the brake lever in a cable tensioned position is to provide a ratchet and pawl mechanism engagable with the brake lever upon depression of the brake lever by the driver. One example of such a structure is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,368. This patent illustrates a typical ratchet structure which includes a plurality of teeth, each of which is engagable by a pawl mechanism.
Such structures have proven to be generally satisfactory in use. The present invention simplifies this general construction by providing a brake actuating structure which has only two positions of operation, one being with the brake applied and the other being with the brake unapplied. The purpose of the binary action is to simplify the operation of the parking brake for the user. As above mentioned, the typical parking brake structure has a ratchet with numerous teeth and various applied positions. The present parking brake structure offers only one applied position thereby reducing ambiguity and uncertainty of effectiveness of user effort.
The present parking brake structure also features foot operated release action. After the brake pedal is applied to the locking position, the brake can be released using a subsequent effort by the user's foot to release the locking feature and to cause the brake pedal to return to its unapplied (resting) position.